A Daughters Pride
by PennyGirl
Summary: The death of Kel leaves many things to be settled. Her family must be told, her friends need to be consoled, and two daughters must face new lives without their mother, as well as meet father, friends,& court who didn't know they existed.
1. Arrivals

Disclaimer: I Don't own PotS. So don't sue.

A Daughter's Pride

Part one: Arrivals

            It was raining the day they walked off the ship; and not easy rain, either. It was hard rain. And it was thick, and it was depressing. To Duvin, who watched the group walk down the ramp, it seemed like the rain was a signal of sadness, of tears.

            "It looks like a delegate ship," said Marcu, coming up next Duvin and gesturing towards the boat. "Yamani Islands by the looks of it."

            "You think the delegations come back?" Caleb asked, pulling his hood back to let the rain hit his face. 

            "Probably," Marcu said.

            Duvin frowned when he saw the large square, wooden crate being carried off of the ship. Everyone who had already climbed down the ramp stared at it as it was brought down. Two teenage girls, wrapped snugly in wool clothes and drenched to the bone, watched it be set down and stared at it for several moments before one of them cracked. "Can't be," Duvin said, referring to the ship, as the girl he watched kept crying, "Delegation's not due back for another two years." Duvin watched the girl cry and fall to her knees in grief. Her companion knelt down next to her and held her in her arms as she sobbed and shook with her tears. "And besides, if this is the delegation, than where's the Lady Knight?" he asked, shoving back his hood and pulling out his scarf from underneath his cloak. He wrapped it around his neck and head before finally pulling his hood back on.  

            "Good question," Marcu commented, just as the bell tolled for the third hour of the afternoon.

            "C'mon, let's go," Duvin said, pulling on the reins to turn his horse around, "we've got work to do."

________________________________________________________________________

            Kaiei was not your typical girl. She looked like one, but she wasn't one. 

            That's the thought that wound its way through her head as she stared straight ahead and the training master looked her over. 

            "And you're how old?" Theron HaMinch said as he looked over the girl's recommendation from a warrior in the Yamani Islands.

            "Thirteen and three months, sir."

            "Hmmm…" Theron threw down the letters and stood up. He began pacing back and forth behind his desk, cracking his knuckles as he did so, and thoughts of how irritating he was began to pop into Kaiei's head. 

            "Why do you want to become a knight?" he finally asked, sitting down again and folding his hands in front of him on the desk. 

            "I want to serve my country," Kaiei said, breathing deep and thinking of stone, "and I want to keep its' people safe."

"No one's ever entirely safe, girl."

            "I know," Kaiei said, "But I can try."

            "Hmph," Theron said, staring down at the letter once again. Finally, he sighed and said, "Very well."

            Kaiei nodded. "Thank you, sir."

            "But be aware of the rules."

            "Yes, sir."

            "There are no boys in your room. If you are caught with one, you will be sent home."

            "Sir." _Like anyone would want me,_ Kaiei thought, remembering her first crush in the Yamani's.

            "You don't fight. Period. Are we clear?"

            "Yes."

            "And don't give me crap about falling down, either. That excuse is over and no longer works." Theron sat back in his chair and said, "Now, there are other rules, but those two are the most important. The rest will be told to you by the servants and the other boys." Theron then sat forward and looked Kaiei straight in the eye. "Also, I would like to make one thing clear." Theron stood up, leaned forward, and almost touched noses with an unflinching Kaiei before growling, "I don't like female knights. I hate them. I think that your place should be at home, in a kitchen, but stupid laws say otherwise." Theron sat back in his chair and said, "You may go now, Lucsia will show you to your room."

            "Yes, sir," Kaiei said, bowing Tortallan style and turning sharply before walking towards the door. Her hand was on the knob when he said, "Don't forget what I said, Page Kaiei. A woman's place is in a home."

            "I know, sir. But my place is as a knight." She then opened the door and walked out, following the servant Lucsia to her room.

________________________________________________________________________

            "Did you hear?"

            Michaela of Stone mountain looked up from his bowl of soup and asked, "Hear what?"

            "About the girl," Darkin, another friend of Michaela's, said as he bit into a roll.

            "What girl?"

            "That girl," Rosgin, the first to speak to Michaela, said, pointing with his fork to the two figures walking through the mess hall door at that moment.

            Michaela had to turn around to see, but when he did, he knew exactly whom they were talking about.

            She was tall, and pretty. A pale, lightly tanned, girl of about thirteen or fourteen walked beside a boy slightly taller than she was, obviously her sponsor, who was talking to her at a rapid rate that involved many hand gestures and lots of exaggerated movement.        She smiled at him and the guy grinned wider as he talked even faster.       

            "You think she's bait?" Darkin asked as he watched her walk by their table.

            "No," Michaela said, looking at her as she passed and getting a chance to see her eyes. They were blue, and hazel, and a little bit of a softer color mixed in. "She's definitely _not_ bait."

            Everyone was awed and obviously surprised at his words and they all turned around to stare at the girl as she smiled at her friend's joke and continued to eat her meal, completely unaware that the entire mess hall was staring at her, and that all other conversation had stopped completely.

            Eventually, after a while, Michaela got up out of his seat and slid into the one next to the girl. "Hi," he said, flashing his most charming smile, "I'm Michaela. Michaela of Stone Mountain. And you are?"

            The girl smiled. "I'm Kaiei. Kaiei of Mindelan. And isn't Michaela a girls name?"

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            A/N: Hello all. You know the deal, please read, and review, and be gentle because this is my first attempt at a Tamora Pierce fanfic. Thanks!


	2. The Training Yards

Disclaimer: I don't own Protector of the small, and am not receiving money for this story.

Daughter's Pride

Part Two: The Training Yards

            Michaela of Stone Mountain frowned as he rode his horse around the training grounds. It was morning, and the day after the girl had shown up. Today she would begin the physical training with the boys, and they would get to see what she was really made of. 

            But something was troubling Michaela.

            What was it? He didn't know. It was just that something about the girl made him want to grit his teeth and yell out insanities to the world. Michaela shook his head in confusion. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He just knew that something about the girl upset him, and that he needed to find out what it was, and soon.

________________________________________________________________________

            _"A lady always leaves the house dressed and prepared."_

Kaiei frowned as the thoughts and memories of her old maid back in the Yamani's came into her head. The sayings that the girl had spoken every day to Kaiei while she did the girl's hair had always irritated her. So today, when she did her hair for the first time on her own in a long time, it irked her that the old maid's voice continued to irritate her from islands that were more than three days sail away.

            "I just miss her, that's all," Kaiei said to herself through a mouthful of pins as she pulled a thinly made braid into a loop and pinned it tightly to her head. "It's no big deal."

            Two small, silent knocks sounded through her door as she inserted the last pin into her hair for the day. "Kaiei? You ready?"

            "Coming," Kaiei called, slipping a fitted shirt on over her head and strapping her belt on over it as she opened the door for her sponsor. At the age of sixteen, the boy named Skin was in his third year of knighthood training, and had met Kaiei at the palace gates when she had arrived. Instantly taking a liking to her, the boy had gladly offered to sponsor her, and had helped her with everything that she had needed to get done before her first real day of official training.

            "No too late to back out you know," he said as he stepped back to let her walk out the door and shut it behind her.

            "It's not too late to call you by your real name either," Kaiei said, locking her door and sliding the key into her boot as she began to walk away.

            Skin winced. "Good point."

            Kaiei smiled her white smile and crooked her arm with his as they walked down the hall to the training yards. "Come one, it'll be fun. After all, how hard can it be?"

________________________________________________________________________

            "Page Kaiei I expect you to hit the floor harder than that!" yelled the training master as Kaiei hit the floor from a blow dealt by a page named Culin with a staff.

            Kaiei groaned as she rolled over and pushed herself up from the ground. _I must be out of shape_, she thought, picking up her staff and taking her stance again. _Because I don't remember it being it being this hard when mother taught me._

            Grinning like a madman page Culin struck at Kaiei again. This time missing her head by less than an inch as she ducked and struck out with her staff to connect with the boy's side.

            _Three points,_ Kaiei thought, amusing herself with a game she remembered her friend Lilly teaching her back in the islands. _You get one for hitting the guy,_ Kaiei ducked again as she avoided Culin's swift staff. _And two more cause he's an idiot._

            Kaiei grinned, oh how she missed her friends.

            "You have no reason to smile, bait," Culin growled, swinging his staff again and hitting her square on the shoulder.

            Kaiei hissed as the pain jarred her neck, but didn't let it show as she growled and took stance again to soundly whack Culin on the head.

            "Who you calling bait?" she asked, knowing full well why he called her that. Skin had explained it yesterday morning after the training master had approved her training agreement.

            "Someone who deserves to be treated as such," Culin snapped, dropping his staff and leaping for her throat.

            Kaiei grinned and lowered her body on bent knees while she threw her shoulder into Culin's stomach and threw him over her back to have him hit the hard dirt floor beneath them with a thump. Everyone stopped and stared as Kaiei swung her staff at him just as he was beginning to get up and stopped just short of his temple.

            "Baka," Kaiei snapped, tapping him square on the top of the head and backing away as the training master called a halt to the hour and demanded that everyone make their way over to the stables so that they could prepare for the day's riding lesson.

            Culin glared at Kaiei and raced to make his way to the stables to beat her at saddling up mounts.

            "Nice match," a boy on the fence commented as Kaiei handed her staff back to the squire of the training master, who was helping him out with the training that day. 

"Thank you," she said as he took it.

"My pleasure," replied the squire, smiling a winning smile and nodding his head in acknowledgement.

"But you could use some work on your dodging," the boy said, as Kaiei swiftly made her way to the stables to saddle her horse and mount up. "You duck too much and need to know when to strike."

"I know when to strike," Kaiei said, and I don't need some servant like you telling me what to do."

"Yes you do," the boy said.

"No," Kaiei said, halting swiftly and turning to face the boy eye to eye. "I-

Kaiei's eyes grew round as she noticed that the boy dressed in grey was not a servant, as she had first thought, but rather a squire who wore his knight masters colors of grey tunic and white shirt with grey breeches and black leather boots. His handsome eyes sparkled as he noticed what she had noticed, and held out his hand to her. "My name's Alasduve, but my friends call me Duvin."

"Kaiei," Kaiei replied, reaching out to shake his hand, which was a tradition of the scanran people, of whom he shared similar features with. "Kaiei of-

"Mindelan, I know," Duvin replied. "There's been lots of talk about you among the Own."

"But I thought you were a squire," Kaiei said.

"I am," Duvin replied. "But I serve my master well and follow him wherever he goes for those brave protectors of ours. After all, not everybody can be a knight."

"Your Cleon's squire," Kaiei stated now knowing why he wore the grey colors of Eminar, a fief run by a man her mother had once said she knew to be kind and well.

"Right you are page Kaiei, now run along to the stables and apologize for your tardiness, I know that you didn't want to keep the beast waiting."

"Right," Kaiei said, turning and walking towards the stables again as several boys began to walk past her, rolling their eyes and making lewd jokes. 

"Oh, and Kaiei," Duvin said.

"Yes," Kaiei replied, turning back with a questioning look on her face.

            "Make sure to tell your horse sorry too."

            "Right," Kaiei said as she grinned and smiled broadly at the joke the boy had made about her training master.

________________________________________________________________________

            When Kaiei finally got to the sable, it was not at all what she thought it would be like. Everything was chaos. Boys were crammed against the wall as the training master and other teachers crouched down in front of Kaiei's stall and talked furiously among one another.

            "What's going on? What happened to my horse? Kaiei asked she pushed her way past the crowd to the stall.

            "Page Kaiei, it's best not to-

            But it was too late; Kaiei had already seen what had happened.

            "Oh my god," Kaiei's hand flew to her mouth to cover the agonized gawp she made as her eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

            Lying in the hay of the stall, with the contents of the water tank and feedbag scattered everywhere around her, was Kaiei's prize stallion, Simmer. His eyes were open and rolled up into the back his head and the teeth had been pulled from his gums and placed in an organized pile of size on the beam were his tack had hung. The wall in front of the stall was strewn with the evidence of why Simmer had died.

            In large, thick, bold letters, someone had taken Simmer's blood and written the words RETURN TO YOUR COUNTRY SLUT. 

            "No!" Kaiei yelled, trying to get to her horse.

            "Kaiei, don't!" Skin yelled, holding her back as she struggled to get to her mount. "You don't want to do that!"

            But it didn't work; Kaiei managed to struggle past Skin's grip and rushed over to her animal, cradling its head in her arms as the tears fell down her face. This could not be, this just could not be.

            The training master knelt to Kaiei's level and placed a hand gently on h shoulder in comfort. "An investigation will be conducted, and we will catch who did this. You're excused for the rest of the day."

            Kaiei nodded in silence and let the last of her tears fall as she placed Simmer's head back within the hay and bent down to kiss his head as she slowly and softly slid the lids of his eyes shut. Simmer had been a good horse, and had not deserved the fate that had been handed to him.

            Kaiei stood up and made her way the door, the pages and squires making a path for her as she slowly walked by, the tracks made by the tears she shed still wet on her face.

            "I'm sorry, Kaiei," Skin whispered, placing a caring hand on her shoulder as she passed by. 

            Kaiei nodded thankfully and left the stables, shutting the door softly behind her.

            "As I told page Kaiei. We will find out who did this, and we will charge the criminal with the circumstances as they apply. But if I find out that any of you were responsible for this, I guarantee you that that person shall never see the chance of knighthood again."

            The training master clapped his hands once, loudly and soundly. "Dismissed!"

________________________________________________________________________

            _Capital City Hujin, Yamani Islands_

Kuyei was a girl who didn't like her things changed form their routine. She had her ways; she followed them to a T. So when someone changed them on her, she was not a happy person. Like, when she tried to visit her sister, as she did practically every winter solstice.

            "What do you mean my sister's gone?" Kuyei snapped to the maid who was prohibiting her form entering her sister's quarters. 

            "I mean that she's left the palace and the city for a long while miss, and has asked that nobody disturb her rooms."

            "How much is she paying you?" Kuyei asked the maid, pulling her coin purse out of her belt loops. "I'll double the weeks earnings for one hour's access."

            "That's not really allowed," the maid said timidly. "Plus, it is quite dishonorable."

            "Yes, I'm quite sure it is," Kuyei commented, pulling the purse through the loops securely again. Sighing with defeat and knowing that the maid would refuse to allow her in no matter what, Kuyei turned to her partner down the hall and commented, "Daiklin, get the horses ready, we're leaving."

            The young man nodded and trotted to the window before jumping out and into the stableyards below.

            "By the way," Kuyei said, turning back to the maid, "where is my sister?"

            The maid turned back from her position of picking up her stitchery she had dropped. Looking thoughtful for a moment, she blinked, looked at Kuyei and said, "You know, I believe she's gone to Tortall."

            "Really?" Kuyei asked, tapping her foot lightly with frustration at her sister. Three weeks of travel and she winds up missing her sister when she only had two weeks left to her vacation anyway. "And where might she be in tortall?"

            "The capitol, I believe."

            "Thank you," Kuyei said, turning away and walking several steps while mumbling, "Why the hell would she want to go there?"

            "I believe your mother mentioned that she wanted her to go there. Before she died."

            Kuyei slid to a stop and the whole world seemed to move in slow motion while her heart stopped and everything around her went out of focus. Her chest caught. She couldn't breathe. And she couldn't even see straight as the maid asked her if she was okay.

            "W-w-what did you say?" Kuyei said softly.

            "I asked if you were alright," the maid said.

            "No, before that."

            "I said that your mother died. Sad really. She was just so young and pretty."

            Kuyei reached out to grab the rail running along the wall but missed her grip as her knees fell out from beneath her. Her mother was gone? Dead? 

When? 

How?

            Why?

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 A/N: Hello, and thanks for reading my story. Sorry for the long wait too. If it's confusing right now, I promise it'll all be explained later. Thanks again, feel free to review. 


	3. Grief

Disclaimer: I don't own POTS, therefore, I'm not making money off this.

A Daughter's Pride

Part Three: Grief

            Two hours after dinner, Skin found Kaiei sitting on the wide rail of a balcony, wrapped up in a warm coat and staring out at the city below as lights twinkled from people's lamps, and the sounds of horses and carts traveling to and from the place reached their ears.

            "I didn't see you at dinner," Skin said, walking up from the doorway behind Kaiei and resting his elbows on the rail as he leaned against it and stared out at the city with his friend. 

            "I wasn't hungry."

            "Everyone's wondering where you were."

            "So."

            Skin sighed; he did not like how this conversation was going.

            "Want to talk about it?" 

            "No."

            "You sure?"

            "Positive."

            "You want to be alone?"

            "Yes."

            "Alright. See you at breakfast."

            Skin made his way to the door and was just about to open it when…

            "My mother gave me that horse."

            "Huh?" Skin turned towards Kaiei to see that she was still sitting on the railing, and still staring out at the city below. 

            Kaiei lifted her legs up and over the rail and turned to face skin. "It was my first time at the animal training yards, and the horse master was unveiling a new foal that had just been born a few days before. Oh, he was beautiful. His mother was too. I ran right up to that fence and stared at him for hours until my mom came and got me to take me back home. I pleaded and begged for us to stay, just another hour. My mom saw the look in my eyes and said okay, just one more hour." 

Kaiei grinned, her mind focused on something else. 

"Every day, I would walk over to the training yard and stare at the foal. It was about three years later when the horse master walked up to the foal and saddled it for the first time. I remember, he held out his hand to me and told me to jump over the fence, that it was only right that I rode him." Kaiei smiled again. 

"I had no idea what he was talking about. I was thinking, 'why should I ride him? He's not mine.' Than I found out, my mom had bought him for me." Kaiei looked back out over the city. "My mom had saved every penny she had for three years to buy that horse for me. I was six when I first saw him, and I was nine when my mom gave him to me. My mom saw how much he had meant to me, and she spent all her money on him, just for me. That was one the happiest days of my entire life. And it was all because of that amazing gift."

Kaiei sighed. "My mom died, about three weeks ago. In an uprising. She had very little possessions. She only kept around the things that she thought were absolutely necessary, and maybe a few other things that meant a whole lot to her." A misty, watery look appeared in Kaiei's eyes, and she wiped at them quickly with the gloved hands. "I moved here shortly after the funeral. I couldn't take all of the things that were going on in the islands, and my grandparents said that they would take care of me during the summers. I am their granddaughter after all." Kaiei sniffed. She was crying, in front of one of her friends, but she didn't care. "I had to leave all my mothers things there. I couldn't bring anything with me. I didn't have the time to pack if I wanted to make the deadline to appear for training here in the fall. Simmer was one of the only things she gave to me that I was able to bring with me here to Tortall. He brought forward some of the best memories I had of my mom. And now he's gone, and I have nothing left of her here with me to help me remember her like I used to!"

Skin rushed over and wrapped Kaiei in his arms. "It's alright Kaiei, everything will be alright."

"No it won't!" Kaiei screamed, shoving Skin away. "My father doesn't even know yet, and he lives here in Tortall. He doesn't even know I exist! How am I supposed to walk up to a man I don't even know and tell him that the woman he risked his life, his job, for, the woman that he loved more than anything else in the whole entire world, is dead? How can I do something like that?"

"With lots of patience. And lots of explanation," skin said, hugging Kaiei again in a comforting manner. "Don't worry Kaiei, it'll be alright."

"No it won't" Kaiei whispered as she slung to her friend and sobbed some more. "No it won't."

______________________________________________________________________________

            In the world of the Shang, one must be able to handle certain situations as if they were everyday things. Like kidnapping, thievery, war, and death.

            Kuyei did not take her mother's death very well.

            "You know, Kuyei, mourning for your family is supported by our masters. Everybody's masters for that matter. You don't need to do this."

Kuyei threw a glare at Daiklin, and pulled another arrow form the sheath on her back to shoot from the Yamani style bow she held in her hand.

            "Your point?" Kuyei asked, fitting the arrow to the string and pulling it to her ear.

             "Well, my point is-"

            Thonk! The arrow hit the target bulls eye head on. Kuyei grabbed another arrow and fit that to the string as well.

            "—that maybe you need a vacation."

            "I already had one."

            Thonk!

            "I returned home to finish my training and maybe visit my sister."

            Thonk!

            "And I wind up discovering that she's gone." 

            Thonk!

            "To Tortall, no less."

            Thonk!

            "And to also discover-"

            Thonk!

            "--that my mother is dead."

            Thonk!

            Kuyei lowered the bow to her side and stared at her partner and best friend. "Anything else?"

            "Yes," Daiklin jumped down from the fence he was sitting on and jogged over, grabbing the bow from Kuyei's hand, he threw it to the ground and grabbed her by the shoulders. "You need a vacation," he said, shaking her gently. "A real one. Not one where you discover new aspects to the battle forms we learned and coming home to discover that your family is gone. What you need," Daiklin continued, releasing Kuyei staring down into her eyes, "Is to mourn. And the only way to do that is to take another vacation. Preferably one away from the islands."

            Kuyei grinned. "And how would I do that, oh wise one of unfathomable knowledge? In case you haven't noticed, I've used up all my leave for the year."

            "But I haven't. I'll give half of what I have left and give it to you. You could go see your sister. And maybe talk to her about what happened, too."

            Kuyei grinned. "The master will say no you know."

            Daiklin grinned. "Probably. But if he does, throw some aspect of training into it, ant than maybe he'll say yes."

            Kuyei sighed. "Fine, I'll ask him."

            "Good." Daiklin walked over and picked up Kuyei's bow. "Now, maybe you could show me how you're going to dig those arrows out of the target."

            "Huh?" Kuyei turned to look and saw that all of the arrows she had shot were stuck in the target bulls eye and buried at least three inches deep. "Oh my."

            "Grief does powerful things to a girl," Daiklin commented to his horse at the fence as Kuyei ran to dig out the arrows. 

            The horse, Nianni, just nickered and searched for the apple she knew Daiklin had in his pocket, wanting to be fed before their morning ride.

______________________________________________________________________________

            "So, Cleon my boy, how's it going?" Raoul asked, striding into Cleon's office as the morning sun peeked it's way up and over the horizon. 

            "Fine, milord," Cleon said from his place at the desk. Sifting through some papers, Cleon sighed. "This is impossible! How did you do this for all those years?"

            "Help. And minions too. It's helps if you have minions."

            "Minions?" Cleon asked.

            "Clerks," Dom said, walking in and smiling, "He means clerks. And subordinates, and maybe, perhaps, a very smart squire. Gods know how that helped you out years ago, when you had Kel do your paperwork and buying for you, huh Raoul?"

            Raoul grinned. "Yes, it does help to have a very smart squire. Especially one who was as big on perfection as Kel."

            Cleon grinned. "I don't think we'll ever find someone as good as Kel again. But maybe my squire Duvin can help, he likes paperwork."

            "I'm sure he does," Raoul said, leaning back in his chair and forcing it to creak. "Now, any word on the Own? I'm interested in anything you can tell me."

            "You're just interested because Buri made you give up your position," Dom commented, smelling the steaming drink that Cleon had in a pitcher. Realizing it was coffee; he made a face and put the pitcher back down. "And you want to cling to all the glory that was once yours."

            "Well, when you get married Dom, you'll understand."

            Dom got a very strange look on his face, and his eyes looked as if they had longing for something that was long gone. "Yes, but I'd marry someone who wouldn't demand I give up my job, just because I was getting old."

            "I am not old!" Raoul glared at Dom, eyes ready to melt steel, just as a soft silent knock rapped on the door.

            "Come in!" Cleon called, not even looking up from his paperwork.

            The door opened and a girl walked through. She was a little over five feet, and had russet red hair that was braided and pinned into coils around her head. Her skin was a pale cream, and she had a light dusting of freckles on her nose. Long lashes covered her eyes as she looked down at the floor, avoiding the gazes of the three men in the room before her. "I'm looking for lord Domitan of Masbolle," she said, her voice so soft they barely heard her.

            Dom turned in his seat and smiled at the girl, "that's me. What can I help you with?"

            "I have a letter for you sir," the girl said, pulling a thick, browned with age envelope out of her belt. The seal on it was old, and cracking, but still unbroken.

            Dom sighed. "Can this wait? I don't need any letters from my mother about marriage right now."

            "It's not from your mother, sir," the girl said, her voice cracking with something that sounded similar to tears.

            "Than who's it from?" Dom asked, getting up and taking the letter from the girl as she sniffed back sobs and tears. 

            "It's from my mother," the girl said. "If I may go? Training begins in a bell, and I still need to eat breakfast."

            "Certainly," Dom said, pulling a coin from his belt and handing it to the girl. 

            "No thank you," she said, bowing and turning on her heel before exiting the room.

            "Strange girl," Raoul commented.

            Dom nodded agreement as he used his knife to break open the old seal on the letter.    

_My dearest Dom…_

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A/N: Hello all! Thank you for reading my story, and putting up with all the carp that I put you through while you're waiting for me to put up new chapters. Also, if you're someone who reads my other stories, I'm sorry that I haven't updated them in a while. I think I'm going to try and finish this one before I continue any of my other ones; but don't hold me to it just yet. There's a lot of crap going on right now at my school, and it's very hard to write. And, thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story, it means a lot to me. Thanks!


	4. A letter and a Kill

Disclaimer: i don't own POTS,a nd am not amking any money off of this story.

A Daughter's pride

Part four: A letter and a kill

The people of Ridge Creek had been hit hard by bandits, and than when winter had come, they had given up hope.

Of course, that was all just his assumption. Dom couldn't actually prove it, nor would he ask it. It wasn't his place. His placve was to help them. and that's exactly what he'd done.

About three weeks into the rescue mission, he sat on a rock bordering the town's namesake creek and once again pullled a wrinkled, folded piece of parchment out of his jacket to read over it again.

Although the words on it were well written, and very precise, he could see in his head the amount of times that the letter had been started and thrown out. The many ways she'd begun it, the sevearal copies she'd made til one wasn't blotched or mussed, and the way she would have bitten her lip while writing it.

And, whenever he thought of it more, he would imagine her smoothing her hand over her belly in a off hand matter, as if calming the kicks of the life growing inside her.

Dom sighed and read the letter again, for what would probably be the thousandth time since that page had shown up and given it to him before running off.

_My dearest Dom,_

_I have written this letter a thousand times, and have thrown it out just as many. _

_The Yamani trade negotiations are going well, as well as the military treaty...In fact, even though it has only been a few months the emperor has asked me to stay until it is finished, and that he will request to the king my taking the position of the ambassador for Tortall when Ha Minch leaves._

_Of course, with a postition of knight hood, I would usually have to refuse and say no, that I must return home to my duties as a knght as soon as the treaty is over. _

_But I'm afraid I will not be doing so. If allowed, I will be taking the postiion of ambassador, due to the important news I am writing to you._

_Even though we were only together for a short while as man and wifre before my departure, it would seem that that short time was enough. _

_I'm pregnant Dom, with twins, and by the time you recieve this letter, they will already have been born._

_The healers tell me that they will be girls, so I have decided to name them Kuyei and Kaiei. After two women from a yamani legend who were also twins._

_We never discussed what to do if we became pregnant, so I've written a magistrate about the situation already, the same one who handled our vows, he says he will handle the girls registration with the court, and that if they ever choose to participate in tortallan knightnhood or any position of service, they can. _

_I have no doubt in my mind that you're shocked about this, and hope that you do not hate me for it. I sitll wonder after all these months how my charm broke...But i guess it doesn't really matter, because we are in this situation, and it can't be reversed. And frankly, after the past few months, I must say that I wouldn't want it to be. I love these girls inside me, and will raise them as best I can, for you know I would never ask you to leave your postiion and duty with the Own, not after you've worked so hard to get to the postition ythat you are in now._

_I can think of nothing else to write. Other than that I love you, and miss you terribly_

_Love, from the bottom of my heart--Kel_

Dom sighed. She'd never sent him this leter. Instead, what she'd sent him from that time of year was actually the news of becoming the new ambassador, and that she'd be away a lot longer than she ahd expected.

A lot longer turned out to be forever. For shortly after he'd gotten her letter, he'd gotten the news of her death in the islands, followed the next day by a call to duty to help those of ridge creek. And he'd been threre ever since.

Dom sighed.

Daughters...He had daughters...

Dom looked into the creek to watch the water going by slowly, a family of fish swimming through it, probably on their way to the nearby river connected to the creek. Seeing one of the little fish swim up to and closer to the largest, like a child to it's mother, Dom smiled and turned to go back to camp.

He'd always wanted children. He didn't even know them, but he knew he wouldn't deny these girls their rights as his children. Dom looked down at the letter in his hand and put it back in his jacket pocket.

His only wish that Kel was still here so she could tell him this, and that they could see the children growup the rest of their lives together.

As a family.

* * *

"I swear to the gods Tursa, you throw that disc at me one more time, I'll kill you myself," Kuyei growled from her cramped bunk across the cabin.

Tursa promptly put the disc down and stared out the small window.

Kuyei sighed and went back to her book that was sitting in her lap. It was a story about the travels of the famed shang unicron from three decades ago. And how her adventures and childhood had led her to be a shang of the immortal level.

But her mind wasn't on the story really, it was more focused on her sister, and what she would do when she saw her.

Kuyei sighed and gazed out the window to see dolphin's jumping out of the water in the wake of the ship. She smiled. She'd always enjoyed seeing the creatures when they traveled by sea.

After a few more moments, Tursa could keep her silence no longer. "So why do we have to go to Tortall anyways?" she asked scornfully.

Kuei looked at her impatiently, she knew how much the girl had hated to leave the training grounds, the fighting match she'd had with her master had been heard all night long. But in the end, she'd lost, and she, along with a group of twelve others, were going to be going to Tortall to meet up with more Shang and their students. For it turns out that Kuyei had inquired about a visit to Tortall at jsut the right time. For her teacher had wanted to include her and Daiklin on a trip over the mountians famous for once having held the Dominion jewel, and into the deserts that had once been the home of the shang Unicormn that Kuyei was now reading about. Tortall would be a stop on the way, they'd be there a total of three days, and after that, they would move on to the rest of their journey.

Kuyei sighed and looked away from Tursa to gaze back out the window. A journey that would take over five years, meaing she wouldn't see her sister unitl she became a squire to a knight, and be well on her way to knighthood.

A knock on the door broke her out of her thoughts of her sister. "Come in, " she called.

The door opened wide to admit Daiklin and a group of five other shang students they knew well. He grinned at her widely and Kuyei smiled faintly back in response. "Good morning, my partner," Daikllin said jovially, bending down and sweeping her into a hug, sending her book to the floor.

Kuyei ccouldn't help it, she giggled. "Daiklin, put me down."

"Alright." Daiklin let go of Kuyei without warning, and she dropped to the ground with a thud.

The other students either smirked or laughed, and Kuyei glared up at Daiklin with a pout. "Jerk," she said, and swung her leg out to kick underneath his own and send him flying to the floor.

Now the others just roared in laughter, while Tursa pursed her lips and glared at them from her bunk. "That's not a proper way to act," she said coldly.

"Says you," Commented Maira, who, along with the others, had taken over Kuyei's bunk. (Tursa's had been avoided altogether.)

Tursa glared at Maira while daiklin stood and helped Kuyei to her feet. "Yes, says me, and if our teachers knew what you were doing, than they'd have you all doing exercises for a week."

"Oh please," Maira said, rolling ehr eyes, "you and your rules. the masters all know we don't follow them, just as we know they just don't want anyone to get hurt when we break them. "

Tursa glared. "It's talk like that that's going to get you a punishment from your teacher."

Maira grinned. "Promise?" she asked slyly.

Everyone laughed, for everyone knew that Maira had a crush on her teacher.

Tursa only took in her response and looked shocked. She was about to respond again, when Kuyei decided to break in. "That's enough. Both of you!"

Tursa shut her mouth and glared at Kuyei like she had no right to speak.

Kuyei jsut glared back and said, "We're gonna be stuck together for over five years. We could at least save the fighting utnil we hit the roof of the world. Agreed?"

Tursa and Maira glared at each other. Than one of the students nudged Maira hard in the back and she grunted. "Agreed."

Tursa stood up and grabbed her pack of darts from it's place in the corner. "Agreed," she snapped, and stormed out of the room to find a target to practice on.

Daiklin grinned down at Kuyei. "You're more like your mother every day."

Kuyei smiled. "Thanks I--"

Boom!

The ship tipped to the side and students yelled as they were jammed together on the bunk, and Daiklin pitched forward and fell with Kuyei onto the floor.

"What on earth was that?" Darya, another student asked.

Just than, another boom sounded and they tipped to the other side. The students on the bunk slid towards the wall, and Kuyei and Daiklin slid along the floor to go crashing into the wall just below the window.

"Sounds like a cannon! " Maira yelled.

Kuyei gripped the sill of the window and pulled herself upright as Daiklin rolled off of her. Looking out the window, she could see exactly what was happening. "It's an attack!" Kuyei dropped away form the window and scrambled across the floor to her bags to find something. "We're under attack!"

"From what?" Maira asked, finally pulling herself free from the tangle of students on the bunk, the others tried to follow her lead, but were thwarted when the boat tipped to the side again. Maira went crashing into the wall, and Kuyei just managed to grab the bag she needed before she slid and did the same into Daiklin. He grunted as she hit him, but held her steady as she rifled through her bag.

From up above on the deck of the boat, shouts and yells could be heard from those outside. Kuyei pulled a set of knives as well as a longth length of metal cord with a large disc at the end from the bag. "It's--"

Just than the door went crashing open, and they all looked as one with wide eyes as a man with dark skin and braided hair and wielding a bloody sword walked through.

From her spot on the ground Kuyei gripped the disc at the end of the cord and flung it at the man, he barely had time to glance at it before it flew into his forehead.

As he fell to the ground, Kuyei yanekd the disc back and caught it in her right hand. "Pirates," she said, standing, "Pirates attacking on both sides."

Maira hmphed and made her way to the pirate. Pulling a knife from it's sheath on his belt, she gripped the door frame as the boat tipped again, and Kuyei did the same with Tursa's abandoned bunk. As it settled own again, the students finally were able to get off of the bunk, and Daiklin pulled himself to his feet.

"Well than, lets show them who they're taking over," Darya said, pulling a cord with a disc similar to Kuyei's from her belt.

Maira grinned and made her way out the door to the hallway.

Kiuyei gripped her knives in one hand, and her cord in the other. "Everyone be careful alright?"

Everyone nodded and they all made their way to the door. Daiklin and Kuyei were the last. As they reached it, Kuyei only glanced at the man on the floor before walking over him through the doorway.

It was her first ever kill. And she knew that it wouldn't be her last.

* * *

A/n. Yeah , yeah, yeah, two years. I'm sorry. I know i suck, feel free to hate me for all eternity. But hey, at least i updated, right? and I've got spring break coming up, giving me loads of writing time available when i'm not working on fashion show stuff for school. I know i didn't include kaiei in this chapter, but she'll be in the next one. So, don't fret, the next one will be up within the next few weeks...not the next few Years!

Review if your not too mad at me please. Thank you!

--PennyGirl


	5. Good Byes

Disclaimer: I don't own POTS, and am not making any money off of this story.

Daughter's Pride

Part 5: Good Byes

When they pulled into the harbor, four weeks late, the harbor master, along with the captain of the guard who had greeted them, had said they were lucky to be alive. Kuyei had just glared at them form her position of being held up by Daiklin's side, and urged Daiklin forward to retrieve their few bags and make sure no one stole Sun River either.

As they approached the pile of sparse cargo being loaded down off the ship, a small silver disc rolled forward out of the bags belonging to the Shang students and at their feet. Kuyei stared at it for a few seconds, and Daiklin was releasing her so he could bend down and pick it up when Maira stepped up next to them and got to it first. Examining it closely, she held it up to the light and it was revealed to have the carvings of a Yamani family of wealth and good standing history.

"Tursa," Kuyei said softly, taking the disc in her free hand that wasn't wrapped around Daiklin for support. "This was Tursa's."

Mayra sighed and popped her back. Unlike Kuyei's badly broken ankle, all she had received from their attack at sea was a sore back and few well placed, and still growing, bruises. Her back done, she retrieved the disc form her friend and turned it over in her palm with a g rim look on her face. "She was a bitch. And a know it all…And annoying too."

"But you didn't want her to _die."_ Kuyei said, looking back towards the boat and where the rest of their party was slowly gathering.

"No," Maira said, "I didn't."

Three days. They had been attacked by pirates for three days. One after the other, always at a time when they finally were getting a chance to recover and count losses. As if the gods of trickery did not want them to know what they'd lost until they were finally finished going at them, the crew and passengers of the ship know not of their losses until finally they all sat on the deck of the ship altogether, on dawn of the second day after the attacks were over, and asked to make sure those in their party were all accounted for.

The Shang masters and their students had lost four in all. Tursa, who had died in the initial attack, defending herself with her practice weapons, her master, Parayech, who had been shot with several arrows from front and back before Kuyei witnessed him using the last of his strength to send him and two of his pirate attackers overboard into the sea waters below during the second attack. Lurella, a young student, no older than ten, too wise for her years, who had been found outside a door that sealed the captain's children as well as those of other crew members and passengers into the bottommost cargo holds during the last minutes of the pirates third attack, a sword too big one of her size jammed into the door jamb, splattered with blood that was both hers and that of the pirate she was defending the children against. (The pirate had been hit in the back by the knife Maira had taken form one of his comrades in the first attack). And lastly there had been Darya, whom Kuyei had remembered smiling at her briefly and encouragingly during the brief break between the second and third day's attacks. Kuyei sighed, remembering the girl dying four days later from infection while the boat drifted at sea.

All in all, everyone, crew and passengers, had been hit with death.

Kuyei sighed and watched the Shang masters, their teachers, talking in a small group with Tortallan guards as the students who were capable helped guide the few jittery horses they had left off the boat, while the others who couldn't do much merely sat on boxes of cargo and let the healers who were now arriving to examine their aches and bruises.

"Where do you think we'll go now?" Maira asked, slipping Tursa's disc into her belt. Kuyei knew she was keeping it so she could either bury it or take it to a shrine. Because of the damage taken during their fights at sea, the boats had drifted for three weeks, before being rescued and pulled into harbor. Because of this, the crew, Shang, students, and other ships passengers had been forced to simply wrap the dead in cloth, send them out to see, and light them afire with arrows when they were a safe distance away. Therefore, they hadn't been able to say many rites, or make appropriate prayers to specific gods. Kuyei knew Maira would be doing so as soon as she possibly could for Tursa, who had been only a few month younger than her.

Kuyei sighed and let Daiklin set her down on a small box that was next to their bags. She settled herself as comfortable as possible before saying, "Knowing how important the trek is, we'll probably just keep going, although I doubt master Lithlo will be coming with us. He'll probably seek out Lurella's parents in Carthak, and let them know what's happened to her."

"We should probably try to do the same for master Parayechs family," Dailkin suggested softly, "If I recall correctly, he said his family lives in the capitol, and he intended to visit them before we headed north to the mountains."

Maira nodded an agreement. As she did this Kuyei saw her and Daiklin's teacher, the Shang falcon, Shulyin Murik, walk towards them from the group.

Kuyei gripped Daiklin's arm and he held himself steady as she pulled herself up. She had just reached her full height when he got to them.

"Maira, Shalmin would like to speak with you," he said, stopping a couple of feet from his students.

Maira nodded and went to speak to her teacher as Daiklin and Kuyei looked to their master expectantly.

"Well," he said after a few moments, running his hand tiredly through his hair. "We have two options.

"And what are they?" Kuyei asked, wincing as a small pain shot up through her leg.

"Well," Shulyin said, "we can continue on with our plan. Head to the palace, stock up on what we need, get the others, and move on to the border and head towards the roof of the world before the passes become entirely impossible from the snows that have already begun."

"What's the second option?" Dailkin asked after Shulyin didn't speak for a few moments.

Shulyin sighed. "The second option is that we stay behind and wait until spring to trek over the passes and past the roof."

"I don't get why there's a problem with that," Daiklin

Kuyei did though. "They'll leave, won't they? The tribe you've set us to travel with and learn from. They'll leave and we won't be able to catch up with them."

Shulyin nodded. "Yes. They agreed to take us where we need to go, and to show us many things, but only if we meet them at the appointed time. We're already two weeks behind schedule. Those going are sending word to those waiting for us at the palace. Once we get there, we'll have about four hours to clean up, repair what we need, stock up on supplies, get healed, and get on our way." Shulyin looked at his two students hard. "This is a serious decision. If we wait 'til spring, we'll have more time to recover, if leave now, we'll gain information that the tribes have never let anyone but their own people see." Shulyin sighed. "You two are old enough, so I leave it up to you."

Kuyei and Daiklin looked at each other for a few moments as they decided what to do. Rather thinking of the opportunities that she would be getting if she pressed ahead, opportunities no other Shang had had, she thought instead of her sister, who was here in Tortall, at the very palace where they would be meeting the others. She would have little or no time at all to see her. No time to speak with her privately about their mothers death, and no time to just catch up and make up for the time they'd been apart.

Than Kuyei looked into Daiklin's eyes, and could see how much he wanted to go and learn. Kuyei knew how much Daiklin wanted to meet these tribes and learn their lessons, and she also knew how important it was to get as close to an immortal Shang ranking as possible. Kuyei sighed. She had decided to lead her life as a Shang, and a Shang would learn everything possible in their time as a student, and for Kuyei, everything possible meant meeting those tribes and seeing what they had to offer. "Alright," she said, "let's go." She smiled at Daiklin, "I'm game if you are."

Daiklin grinned. "Absolutely."

Shulyin clapped his hands. "Excellent! Get your things and get on your horses, we leave immediately for the palace. We'd like to be on the road by sundown."

Daiklin and Kuyei nodded and went in search of their bags and horses.

* * *

"OOF!...ow." Kaiei hit the ground for third time that day and swore under breath as her training master yelled at her again to control her horse.

Kaiei glared at the beast the palace gave her as replacement for Simmer. He was a pain in the butt stallion that looked at her as if she were his enemy.

"I feel the same way about you," she muttered in Yamani, pushing herself up off the ground and limping on a sore ankle over towards her horse.

She grabbed the reins and led the animal back over to where the line of pages was waiting to joust against the quintain. Sighing audibly, she grabbed the saddle, put her foot in the stirrup, and heaved herself back on the horses back. The stallion shifted his feet while she did so, but he did not throw her.

Although Kaiei could tell that he wanted to.

_Mangy beast,_ she thought acidly.

"He really doesn't like you," Skin commented from his spot next to her in line.

"You think?" Kaiei asked sarcastically as the line moved forward and she kneed her horse to follow the others. Rather than release the reins while she waited in line like the others did, she kept her hand firmly on them. She didn't want a repeat of two days ago when she'd first gotten the horse and done that. She's wound up on her back in the training yards the morning following a hard night's rain.

Skin grinned at her and she smiled weakly back as she watched a page get whacked in the back by the quintain.

"Oy, don't the Own and Bazhir wear white or red?" a page asked, gesturing towards the stables.

Several pages, Kaiei included, turned their heads to see what he was talking about.

There, across the grounds and making their way up the steep hill to the general stables, was a group of about twenty or so people of different ages, dressed in loose clothing and burnooses of all black. They rode slowly, as if tired. And several of them looked as if they were tied to their horses.

Seeing one horse in particular, Kaiei bit her lip in hope and a little bit of disbelief. It couldn't be her. No way. She was supposed to be in the Yamani's for the winter. She wasn't supposed to be here. She wasn't supposed to be anywhere near Tortall.

"Something wrong?" Skin asked, seeing her look apprehensive.

Kaiei turned to her friend and smiled softly. "Nothings wrong." She turned back to the line and nudged the stallion forward as the boys discussed the group of people.

"You look like you know those people," Skin said softly, so that only she could hear.

Kaiei looked at him and nodded. "Maybe. I might be wrong though. It's been a few years."

Kaiei than fell silent for the next fifteen or so minutes as the line moved forward, and when Skin's turn came up, she smiled softly and wished him good luck.

"Thanks," he said, riding into place.

Kaiei watched as he lowered his lance and rode forward towards the quintain. He hit it squarely on the dot, and rode back towards the line quickly.

"Hurry up Mindelan!" shouted the training master.

Kaiei nodded and rode forward, lowering her lance; she drew a deep breath and nudged her horse into the proper stride.

Immediately she could tell he was going to revolt. His speed was too fast, and he was pulling against the reins too much. She tried to pull them back to control him, but it was ineffective. And underneath her legs she could feel his muscles flexing for something she'd already gone through once that day. Seeing the quintain looming close, Kaiei saw that her lance could possibly hurt the animal if she held onto it during what was going to happen.

So she threw it, and held on for dear life as the stallion reared as far back on his hind legs as possible.

And as she held on, she could see the pages around her laughing, and two black clothed people sitting atop their horses by the fence watching.

Kaiei closed her eyes as the horse finally managed to throw her. And as she flew through the air, all she could think was, _Please don't let it be them seeing this…_

* * *

"Oh, I can completely tell that this knighthood thing is going to work out for her," Daiklin commented sarcastically from Kuyei's left side as her sister flew off her horse and into the dirt of the training yard.

Kuyei reached over to smack her partner on the shoulder and turned back to watching her sister just in time to see her finish a roll and slowly push herself off the ground. "That beast is horrible," Kuyei commented in Yamani. "He's obviously sapling green." Kuyei looked over the horses ridden by the boys, and over towards the stable, "Why isn't she riding Simmer?"

"Maybe he's hurt," Daiklin said.

"Hmmm….maybe," Kuyei said.

Kaiei finally stood on her two feet and Kuyei watched as she tried to catch her rebellious horse. Once again she looked to the stable and looked back at her sister.

"Let's check it out," she said. "While they're still training."

* * *

Three hours later, Kaiei was sitting by the window of her mathematics class when she noticed a lot of movement in the courtyard below.

Horses were being gathered. Their riders were milling about and tying packs to their saddles to prepare for departure. Among them Kaiei saw the five Shang who were currently serving as teachers for the palace. Behind her, Kuyei could hear one of the boys whispering to another.

"..leaving for a few _years_. Going to be in the deserts that are past the roof of the world."

Kaiei gripped her pen hard. Years?

She looked back to the courtyard and saw many of the people mounting their horses. One who had their back to the window turned and Kaiei could see a profile exactly similar to her own.

Same hair. Same Skin. Same nose.

Same everything.

Everything about them was exactly the same as Kaiei.

WHACK!!!!!!!!

Kaiei looked from the long thin, wooden pointer that had smacked her desk up to the face of her stern mathematics teacher. "Something more interesting going on out there than what you're supposed to be learning in here?"

Some of the boys snickered as a long high whistle sounded from below. Kaiei whipped her head back to the window and saw the Shang slowly begin to walk their horses forward through the gate and onto the road.

Kaiei bit her lip. _Years… They'll be gone for years….._

Not even thinking about what the consequences would be Kaiei threw herself out of her seat and out the door.

She would NOT let her sister leave her without giving her the chance to say good-bye.

* * *

"KUYEI!!!!"

Several students turned in their saddles to see a page in red and gold uniform come running through the courtyard. As the page came closer, they could see the page was a female, with a long braid running down her back and her feet running as fast as they could carry her.

"Kuyei!!!!!!!!!" she yelled again.

One of the students towards the middle of the group jumped from their saddle and landed sorely on a newly healed ankle. Throwing their burnoose off their shoulders, they ran past the line of students and teachers to the page.

"Kuyei!" the page sobbed as she was swept up into a hug by the Shang student.

The two stood in the middle of the road like that for awhile. As they did, the Shang simply kept moving on like it wasn't going on. The student would catch up. They weren't going too fast.

* * *

Kuyei pulled back from her sister and smiled sadly at her. "Sorry I can't stay for a visit. We're already so far behind."

Kaiei nodded and sniffed. "It's okay."

Kuyei smiled and swept her sister up into another hug. "I'll miss you," she whispered into Kaiei's ear.

"I know," Kaiei whispered back, squeezing tightly.

Finally, the two separated and Kuyei held her sister at arms length. "You'll be a great knight," she said.

Kaiei grinned. "And you'll be a great Shang."

A brisk whistle sounded from down the column, and Kuyei turned to see Daiklin waving at her from the middle of the group, their horse's reigns in his hand. "Where's Sun River?" Kaiei asked.

Kuyei turned back to Kaiei. "You'll see," she said, smiling mischievously before sweeping her sister into one last hug. "Good-bye."

Kaiei sighed as her sister let her go and watched as she ran as fast as she could to Daiklin, who helped her swing herself into the saddle before he pulled himself up behind her. As the horse moved forward with their weight on his back, Kuyei leaned around Daiklin and waved.

Kaiei smiled sadly and waved back. "Good-bye, Kuyei," she whispered.

Daiklin turned Kuyei back to the face the road and Kaiei dropped her hand to her side.

"Goddess bless," she whispered, turning back to the palace and heading for the last of her mathematics lesson and her punishment.

* * *

A/n: I need to clear a few thing sup. I'm trying to make it where it wasn't obvious Kel had had the girls. Nobody was supposed to know about them. They were born and she only told a magistrate about it so they could have the opportunities that she'd had. Kaiei gave Dom the letter BEFORE he found out about Kel's death. He was only a sad in part 3 because he missed her.

That's about it.

Thanks for reading, and yay! I'm updating!

Now if only I could get off my butt and do the other stories too….

---PennyGirl


	6. The Next Morning

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Tortallan universe and am not making any money off of this story.

A Daughter's Pride

Part 6: The Next Morning

The next morning was bright, beautiful, and cold. Kaiei and her fellow pages greeted it by heading to the training yards with jackets and thick gloves on. As usual Kaiei and Skin were some of the first to enter the stables. Partly because the other pages were still groggy, and partly because their horses were at the farthest end of the stable.

Kaiei had been grinning at a joke made by Skin when he stopped in his tracks. "What is it?" Kaiei asked curiously.

"Where's your horse?" Skin asked.

"What?" Kaiei turned to her horse's stall and gasped.

Instead of the angry, fidgety, evil beast of a stallion she had stuck riding for the past weeks was a beautiful, healthy, golden mare with a white star on her chest and forehead. The mare munched hay happily as a shocked Kaiei walked forward and stared at her. "I don' believe this," she said finally.

"Don't believe what?" a page nearby asked, walking over with his already saddled mount.

Kaiei reached out in what they thought was a move to pet the mare. Instead, she reached past it and grabbed a piece of paper that had been stuck on the hook that the mare's tack rested on. Opening the note, she read it silently and laughed softly before finally letting the mare sniff her hand.

"Whose horse is that?" the page who had spoken earlier asked.

"I think she's Kaiei's," Skin replied as Kaiei and the mare got acquainted.

"Really? What happened to the stallion?"

"Uh..."

"He's gone," Kaiei said as she patted the mare's neck and pulled her tack of the wall. "The hostler's probably moved him to another stable when she was left for me."

"Who left her?" the page asked.

Skin smiled. "It was her wasn't it? That Shang that you ran out to during class yesterday?"

Kaiei nodded as she placed the saddle on the mare's back. "She's not a Shang though. Right now she's only student."

"Who is?" the curious page asked.

Kaiei grinned at him and tossed him the note. "My sister," she said simply, turning back to strapping on the mare's saddle.

The page she'd tossed the note to reached for it was beat out by Skin, who snatched it right from underneath his nose and grinned at what it said.

_Dear sister,_

_Sorry about Simmer. _

_Please allow Sun River to take his place._

_I know she would've hated the desert anyway,_

_All my love,_

_Kuyei…_

_P.S. Don't worry about me; Daiklin always liked to walk._

* * *

A/N: Yes, yes, I know it's short. I couldn't figure out how to fit into the last chapter, and it wouldn't have gone right in the next one…

That's about it. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon.

---Thanks for reading…

---PennyGirl


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